Reuters
June 4, 2013
A top Republican lawmaker predicted on Tuesday that the House of Representatives could pass an immigration bill by August, as the Senate gets ready to debate legislation to give millions of undocumented residents a way to earn citizenship.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, whose panel oversees immigration, defended the House's progress on immigration legislation and said lawmakers were focused on getting the reforms right.
Unlike the Senate, which is set to work on a sweeping immigration bill that boosts border security, overhauls the visa system and gives a path to citizenship to immigrants, the House has yet to introduce a comprehensive immigration bill.
In an interview with MSNBC television, Goodlatte said he thought the House could pass an immigration bill by August.
The scope of Goodlatte's bill is unclear, because in the past he has left open the option of considering a series of individual bills, unlike the Senate's comprehensive approach.
Goodlatte's committee is considering bills to increase high-skilled work visas, make it easier for farmers to hire foreigners and require employers to electronically verify the immigration status of potential employees.
The House bills being considered do not offer illegal immigrants a path to citizenship.
Representative Steny Hoyer, the second-ranking House Democrat, said he did not know what kind of measure Goodlatte was considering. But he did not welcome the possibility of a narrow solution to immigration reform.
"Mr. Goodlatte has been talking about doing individual bills. We do not believe that's a viable or appropriate way forward," Hoyer told reporters.
Hoyer added that while narrowly crafted measures could gain strong support in the Republican-controlled House, that approach would "leave behind the overwhelming majority of people who are confronting a broken system that needs to be fixed."
He was referring to the estimated 11 million undocumented residents who want to become legalized and eventually earn U.S. citizenship.
"I don't think Democrats in the final analysis are going to support fixing one part of the immigration process" and leaving other parts unaddressed, Hoyer said.
With a small group of Republican and Democratic lawmakers in the House so far unable to produce comprehensive legislation, Goodlatte's piecemeal approach may be the chamber's only way of passing an immigration bill.
The Senate and House must pass identical bills before President Barack Obama can sign one into law.
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